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Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Isaac Adongo, has slammed Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s criticism of attacks on the leadership of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) over the bank’s GH¢60 billion loss.
Adongo said Ofori-Atta’s comments are “unfortunate and sad” and that they ignore the fact that the BoG is required to report on its comprehensive income statement, which reveals profit or loss.
“Non-governmental organisations that are not profit-making don’t report comprehensive income statements and they don’t disclose profits or losses. They disclose deficits or surpluses. Is Ken Ofori-Atta aware that because of its special mandate and its need to make a profit or loss that is why the international financial standards require such entities to report comprehensive income statements revealing profit or loss?” Adongo said.
Adongo argued that the BoG must be held accountable for its losses, just like any other public institution. He said the minority caucus in Parliament is right to demand answers from the BoG leadership.
“We need to know what happened to the money that was lost. We need to know why the BoG was unable to manage its finances effectively. We need to know what steps are being taken to prevent such losses from happening again,” Adongo said.
The BoG has defended its performance, saying that the loss was due to a number of factors, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the Domestic Debt Exchange. The BoG has also said that it is taking steps to improve its financial management.
However, Adongo and other critics of the BoG are not convinced. They argue that the BoG’s losses are a sign of mismanagement and that the central bank needs to be held accountable.
Mr Ofori-Atta in an article emphasised that the primary objective of the Bank of Ghana, like all central banks, is not to generate profit.
In the article titled “Standing Strong With The Bank of Ghana,” the Finance Minister addressed the importance of managing the central bank as a financially sustainable institution, rather than focusing solely on profitability.
The article comes in response to plans by the minority caucus of parliament to protest against Dr. Addison, accusing him of mismanaging the central bank, resulting in a loss of GHS60.8 billion in 2022 and negative equity of GHS55.1 billion.
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